National Comorbidity Study

Another study used data from the National Comorbidity Study (Greenberg et al, 1999). The annual economic burden of anxiety disorders was estimated at US 42.3 billion in 1990 terms. This represents an annual cost... 

Depressive illness constitutes one of the most frequently seen mental disorders. The morbidity and mortality associated with alteration of mood is one of the major problems facing behavioral health professionals, with the U.S. National Comorbidity Study of 1994 showing a lifetime prevalence of major depression of 12.7 percent in males and 21.3 percent in females. Most mood disorders are chronic and require long-term management. Pharmacotherapy continues to be a mainstay treatment of depression. Because depressant mood disorders are so prevalent in our society, antidepressant drugs are among the most frequently prescribed medications. 

Kessler RC, McGonagle KA, Zhao S et al (1994) Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of DSM-III R psychiatric disorders in the United States. Results from the National Comorbidity Study. Arch Gen Psychiatry 51 8-19... 

Bland RC, Orn H, Newman SC (1988b) Lifetime prevalence of psychiatric disorders in Edmonton. Acta Psychiatr Scand 77(Suppl 338) 24-32 Bourdon KH, Boyd JH, Rae DS, Burns BJ, Thompson JW, Locke BZ (1988) Gender differences in phobias results of the ECA community study. J Anxiety Disord 2 227-241 Breslau N, KUbey MM, Andreski P (1994) DSM-lll-R nicotine dependence in yoimg adults prevalence, correlates and associated psychiatric disorders. Addiction 89 743-754 Bromet E, Sonnega A, Kessler RC (1998) Risk factors for DSM-lll-R posttraumatic stress disorder findings from the National Comorbidity Survey. Am J Epidemiol 147 353-361 Brown TA, Barlow DH (2002) Classification of anxiety and mood disorders. In Barlow D (ed) Anxiety and its disorders the nature and treatment of anxiety and panic, 2nd edn. Guillford Press, New York, pp 292-327... 

Kendler KS, Davis CG, Kessler RC (1997) The familial aggregation of common psychiatric and substance use disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey a family history study. Br J Psychiatry 170 541-548... 

The Epidemiologic Catchment Area study found that MDD has a 1-month prevalence of 2.2% and a lifetime prevalence of 5.8% in Americans 18 years of age and older (4). However, the most recent estimate from the National Comorbidity Survey is that the 1-year prevalence rate for unipolar major depression and dysthymia is 10.3% among community residents 15 to 54 years of age (5), which translates into approximately 27 million Americans suffering from either condition in a given year. 

The true prevalence of depressive disorders in the United States is unknown. The National Comorbidity Survey Replication recently found that 16.2% of the population studied had a history of major depressive disorder in their lifetime, and more than 6.6% had an episode within the past 12 months. Women are at increased risk of depression from early adolescence until their mid-50s, with a lifetime rate of depres-... 

Anemia is a common condition, and the prevalence of anemia varies widely based on age, gender, race/ethnicity, and comorbid conditions. A study of anemia prevalence in a nationally representative sample of community-dwelling individuals describes how anemia differs across different populations.1 The prevalence of anemia in children (ages 1-16 years) was 6% to 9%, but the prevalence of anemia increases to approximately 11% in adults over age 65 years and to at least 20% in adults 85 years of age and older. Anemia is generally more common in women, particularly during their reproductive years (ages 17-49 years), when anemia occurs in over 12%, but in less than 2% of men. The same study showed that in the population over age 65, non-Hispanic whites and Mexican Americans had similar prevalence of anemia (9.0% and 10.4%, respectively), but with a prevalence of 27.8%, anemia was significantly more common in non-Hispanic blacks. 

Studies at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have detailed the clinical characteristics of patients in the PANDAS subgroup (Swedo et al., 1998). The rate of neuropsychiatric comorbidity in this population is quite striking. Twenty of the 50 children (40%) met DSM-IV criteria for ADHD and/or oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), 18 (36%) for major depressive disorder, 14 (28%) for overanxious disorder, and 10 (20%) for separation anxiety disorder. Six children (12%) were enuretic, often episodically and closely correlated with periods of OCD and tic exacerbations. Depressive symptoms, ADHD, and separation anxiety disorder also waxed and waned in concert with the OCD/ tic symptoms. In addition, exacerbations of OCD and tics were accompanied frequently by the acute onset of choreiform movements (clinically distinct from chorea), emotional lability and irritability, tactile/sensory defensiveness, motoric hyperactivity, messy handwriting, and symptoms of separation anxiety (Perlmutter et al., 1998 Becker et al., 2000). 

Brown, Barry S. Comorbidity of Mental Disorders with Drug Abuse/De-pendence. National Institute on Drug Abuse. Available online. URL http //www.nida.nih.gov/about/organization/DESPR/HSR/datre/ BrownComorbid.html. Posted in May 1998. Some of the studies summarized here measure the incidence of psychiatric problems among clients... 

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